The present invention relates to cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a portable electric grill, which is ventilated for indoor cooking and is also foldable for convenient transport and storage.
There are several U.S. patents that are available in the field of portable cooking grills, however, none of them address the long felt need in the manner of the present invention. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,663 to Jenn et al. discloses one such ventilated portable electric grill. This grill assembly includes a heating element and is topped by a grill element. An upwardly extending portion of the grill housing encloses a power driven fan, which draws air, smoke, and cooking vapors from across the grill element. The fan outlet discharges to the exterior of the housing. The present invention is patentably distinct from this prior art cooking grill because it is foldable for convenient storage and provides other novel structural features to support this functionality.
Another example of a ventilated electric grill is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,819 to Field, which discloses a ventilated open-air indoor broiler having damper means. This grill provides electric heating elements and a positionable damper located at the entrance to an air plenum chamber adjacent the broiler. Air is drawn across the surface of the broiler grill and past the damper means to the plenum and exhausted via an electric fan to the atmosphere by ducting. The present invention is also patentably distinct from this prior art cooking grill due to its foldable construction and other novel structural features not shown in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,177 discloses a portable grilling device of the foldable type including a first bowl and a second bowl hingedly connected together. The bowls are movable between a closure position where the bowls overlie one another, a generally right angular use position where the second bowl is disposed substantially normal to the first bowl, and a generally horizontal use position where the first bowl and the second bowl are fully opened. This grilling device does not provide electric heating elements or an exhaust fan as featured in the present invention.
Another example of a folding grill apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,528 which discloses a portable cooking apparatus constructed so that the disassembled parts may be fitted together for easy and convenient storage and transport. This portable cooking apparatus also does not provide electric heating elements or an exhaust fan in the manner of the present invention.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose the present inventive device. The present invention provides a foldable electric grill having novel structural features including an exhaust fan for indoor grilling and a grease collection tray.